The Punjab Congress Express has derailed in its mission as the workers of Gill constituency have trained their guns at the party’s senior leadership.

Party ticket aspirants here objected to the campaign which, they said, promoted a certain party leader.

The campaign, featuring a customised mini-bus, rolled out in Gill with MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu and state Congress V-P Amar Singh as key speakers in Ludhiana.

However, since Amar Singh was a ticket aspirant from Gill constituency, his photographs on the hoardings did not go well with other contenders. The supporters lambasted at the prominent poll strategist Prashant Kishor for crossing a line by “favouring” him even before any formal announcement.

Senior Congress leader and two-time MLA Malkeet Singh Dakha, Youth Congress vice president Sunny Kainth, Kirtinder Singh Singhpura and Nirmal Kaira objected to the apparent “favour”. Dakha alleged he was not allowed on stage either by “bouncers” of Kishor’s team.

However, the duel between Amar Singh and him did not stop, and both took jibes at each other in their speech in Punjabi. The infighting within the party has proved that the party is not united as only a few months are left for the assembly polls.

Dakha said that the team IPAC of Kishore has no right to project one applicant as the party candidate. Even if he (Amar Singh) is a speaker, he should have been replaced for Gill constituency seeing a conflict of interest.

Kainth said that they all have applied for a ticket, not Amar Singh alone. We were not even invited for today’s campaign. A senior leader like Dakha was not allowed to sit on stage, forget about us. Prashant Kishor’s team is not going to announce any ticket. Their work is to promote the party, not dictate. It is now crystal clear that nothing is going smooth in the Punjab Congress and the upcoming assembly polls, the party would see its dead end.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and members of his party were left in shock when out of nowhere a shoe was hurled at Rahul Gandhi on Monday in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

This incident was caught on tape and it can be seen that after the shoe was thrown, Congress Vice-President along within party members were looking behind trying to process what had just happened.

The shoe throwing culprit, Anoop Mishra, has been arrested and claims to be a journalist. “The Congress has left the country in the dumps in the past 60 years. I have been a journalist for two years and I know…What were they doing when they were in power?” he said while being taken away in the police van, reports NDTV.

Rahul Gandhi is currently undertaking a month-long ‘kisan yatra’ in the state just before crucial polls arrive early next year.

During the yatra, he will traverse across 233 of the 403 assembly constituencies through 39 districts of the state covering 2,500 km to reach out to people.

In 21 districts, Rahul will conduct ‘khaat sabhas’, where he will touch upon farmers’ plight, unemployment, the rising prices and the importance of communal harmony for social and economic development.

Capt Amarinder Singh has come up with a new trick to woo party workers and told that the candidates who filed the applications for the tickets would be given the chairmanships of various boards if they withdraw their application and help the contesting candidate in winning the election.

He told the applicants to withdraw their applications and work for the probable candidate in the constituency. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee had announced that the selection criteria for the candidates of the party in the upcoming assembly polls would be done by shortlisting the application of the right candidates. The party had invited the application for the selection criteria from party workers.

However, the application procedure was a trick to please the party workers as it was pre-planned that the blue-eyed boys of Amarinder Singh will get the tickets. And now Amarinder Singh has indirectly told the applicants to withdraw their applications, and he would offer them chairmanship if the party forms the government.

In 2012, the Punjab Congress witnessed the defeat because Amarinder Singh gave tickets to his confidants and the rebels in the party acted against the party. The Congress leader Deepinder Dhillon was denied the party ticket from Derabassi constituency. He left the party and contested independently. Dhillon lost the election, but he got 50,000 votes. He had re-joined the party when he got assurance from Amarinder that in the upcoming assembly polls, he would be the party’s candidate from Derabassi seat.

There were so many cases of party rebels who acted against the party and Amarinder Singh. The Punjab Congress head has played a stunt this time so that he could successfully give tickets to his confidants.

As per the information, hundreds of applicants filled the applications for the party tickets and supposed if they withdraw their applications, is it possible for Amarinder to adjust all if he forms the government. It seems Amarinder Singh has not lost only the vision but wisdom too.

Trying every possible course of action to mark a victory in the upcoming Punjab polls; Congress has planned to make Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the star campaigner of the party. Highly respected for his down to earth personality, Dr. Singh can give a push to the party’s campaigning being a Sikh face.

Prashant Kishore, the strategist of Congress Punjab and the team is working tirelessly to prevent the defeat for the third time.

If we talk about this strategy of Punjab Congress, it seems as if this party is trying to hide its anti-Sikh face by taking help of Sardar Manmohan Singh. But Mr. Kishore should keep in mind that appointment of Manmohan Singh in Punjab as star campaigner will not be helpful as Punjabis can never forget the cruel face of this party.

From 1955 to 1984, Congress committed many atrocities on Sikh community. The injustice that has done to the Sikhs is not an incident to be forgotten so easily, it reminds of the times when Congress showed no mercy towards the innocent souls of Punjab. Attacks, violence, killings, religious sacrilege, what’s that Congress has not done to destroy Punjab and its people.

One fair advice to Mr. Kishore, learn about the history before you think such plans would work in favor of Congress party.

Punjab Congress has come out with another political stunt ‘Punjab Congress Express’ to woo the voters as all the previous plans of the party failed for the political makeover of the party in Punjab.

The party has designed 13 mini buses named ‘Punjab Congress Express’ to meet the people across the state and hold meetings with party workers also. The publicity bus would cover the state according to the route prepared by the party leaders.

Prominent leaders of the party would lead their campaigns in their areas. The party has come out with the Punjab Congress Express so that before the rallies of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Punjab, the party could cover the state to pull crowds in the rallies.

Punjab Congress has been coming out with a lot of plans to strengthen the party as all plans designed by Prashant Kishore failed to woo the Punjabis. The programme ‘Coffee with Captain’ was designed for the maximum interaction of youth with Capt Amarinder Singh but the programme turned against Amarinder as the youth started questioning him for his absence from the assembly and parliament sessions.

Another programme was designed ‘Halke Wich Captain’ didn’t fetch much response. It’s going on but the response is not good. When the poll strategist Prashant Kishore was hired by the party, he had started an interaction programme in which Capt Amarinder used to meet party workers and supporters.

However, the programme drew flak as the party workers started lambasting at the local and senior leadership for their absenteeism in their respective areas. All programmes designed by the poll strategist didn’t come out well.

The poll strategist has designed the new programme Punjab Congress Express as he feels that the programme would work well. However, this time, he would again disappoint his boss as the people are much aware of the stunts of Punjab Congress.

The Punjab Congress has decided to release the party’s manifesto for upcoming Punjab polls without finalising the CM face of the party for the elections.

As per the information, the chairperson of Punjab Congress manifesto committee, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal announced that the party will be released on October 2 on Gandhi Jayanti or on November 14. She said that Nehru Jayanti is fixed as a deadline to release the manifesto.

Though the party has finalised the dates for releasing the manifestos but still the party has not made any official announcement for the CM face of the party in assembly elections. It seems the party will announce the chief ministerial candidate after releasing the manifesto and still the party failed to select the right candidate for CM face.

Even the party has played a stunt to choose the two dates for releasing the manifesto to grab the headlines in the media. The party has been identifying the stunts to woo the voters of the state by claiming that the party’s manifesto would be full of pro-people schemes.

It seems something is fishy in Punjab Congress as the party high command has not taken the matter of deciding CM face seriously and only a few months are left for the assembly elections.

The AICC has already announced the CM candidate for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and the UP elections are scheduled after the Punjab assembly polls. Why has the party been delaying for the selection of a chief ministerial candidate for Punjab polls?

Perhaps, the party has been going through the process of shortlisting the names and the final announcement will be made just prior to the polls so that the party leaders or the workers could not show their resentment and they could concentrate on the polls.

Two months after the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh was brought back to power by the court, they plunged into a fresh crisis on Friday as all but one legislator joined a regional outfit.

This is not the first time that the Peoples Party of Arunachal has been propped to power in the frontier state. The first time it occurred was when a rebel Congress government led by Kalikho Pul, had walked out with 24 MLAs and merged with the regional party in March.

“Forty-two of the total 43 Congress MLAs decided to leave the party and join PPA. The assembly Speaker has been apprised of the development,” deputy chief minister Chowna Mein told Hindustan Times.

Now, with a 60 member house, there is only one seat that is occupied by a Congress legislator. Two independent MLAs, who were initially supporting Khandu’s government, have also now decided to support the new front.

“The next government would be headed by Pema Khandu and is likely to be installed within the next few days,” said Mein.

Sources are claiming that the reason behind the Congress MLAs crossing over to PPA is in hopes to secure more funds from the BJP led government in the Centre.

“This is a homecoming for our PPA leaders after a temporary self-exile,” Kameng Ringu, chairman of PPA, told Hindustan Times, denying the BJP had a hand in driving the switch of Congress MLAs to PPA.

Ringu said “there is no scenario at present” for the PPA, as speculated, to eventually merge with the BJP. “We have faith in Pema Khandu and his ability to provide a good PPA government.”

As Friday dawned, the MLAs huddled with PPA leaders, leaving chief minister Pema Khandu. Around noon the merger was complete with only former chief minister Nabam Tuki opting to be out.

Including Tuki, there are a total of 42 MLAs in the PPA in a 60-member assembly.

The BJP has 11 legislators and two MLAs are independent. One seat was vacated after Pul committed suicide on August 9.

A Congress administration led by Tuki was pushed out after Pul joined the PPA and formed the government in February. In July, the Supreme Court termed Pul’s five-month-old government as unconstitutional and reinstated Tuki as chief minister, a decision seen as a setback for the BJP-led Centre and a moral victory for the Congress.

But Tuki had to make way for Khandu as many of the rebel Congress MLAs including Pul — who rejoined the party — sided with the son of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu. Pul committed suicide soon after. It was expected political stability would return after 37-year-old Khandu took charge in July.

PPCC President has turned to be a savior for his party members. Recently, Congress MLA Tarlochan Singh Soondh hurled a shoe at revenue minister of the opposition party during the last session of assembly for which he had to face a lot of criticism from all over the country. However, a day after this incident, Amarinder Singh- The Savior, appeared to justify the action of his MLA and said,” Our legislator got emotional and reacted,”

This is not for the first time when Captain Amarinder Singh has given clean chit to his party members, before this he defended alleged perpetrator of Sikh genocide that happened in 1984, Jagdish Tytler by saying, “I am not the CBI, I am not the court. I am telling you what I saw, and felt. I was in Delhi, and went to all the camps, and everyone I met took all these names that I have told you, except Jagdish Tytler. When did Jagdish Tytler’s name come up? It came up when he was fighting Madan Lal Khurana in Delhi, and that was months later.”

Also, when Kamal Nath resigned from the position of general secretary in Punjab Congress, Captain came out for his defense. “Even if Kamal Nath would have been there as in-charge, there would have been nothing on the party. There would have been nothing. Things have changed,” he said. He defended the present general secretary Asha Kumari also, who faced opposition in Punjab due to the land grabbing case.

Not just his party members, he showed his love of “clean chits” to the rebelled members of the other parties as well. Here, we are talking about Succha Singh Chottepur, PPCC president defended and gave the clean chit to the ex- convener of AAP by saying that he had an “untarnished record of 40 years in public life”.

So, next time when you commit a mistake but don’t want to accept it, consult PPCC president, Captain Amarinder Singh, he would be happy to give you “CLEAN CHIT”. Don’t hurry, this offer is not limited.

The shoe-throwing incident in Punjab Vidhan Sabha during the monsoon session by a Congress MLA has proved that the legislators in opposition have no other task except disturbing the session.

Congress lawmaker Tarlochan Singh Soondh threw his shoe at rival politician during the protests by his party in the house. It seems the Congress party legislators have lost their vision and mission as politicians.

Twenty legislators of the opposition were staying in the premises of Vidhan Sabha and spent two nights as a protest. However, such acts have shown their immaturity.

The act of immaturity by Soondh has shocked the people and politicians. The rival parties have also criticised the legislator for expressing his anger in a stupid way.

Soondh and other Congress members had crowded around the Speaker’s chair demanding a debate on their no-confidence motion against the ruling Punjab government led by SAD-BJP alliance.

Infuriated, Soondh took off his shoe and flung it at SAD legislator. When the legislators knew that their numbers are not enough for bringing the no-confidence motion then why they put their demand. It was just an act to create disturbance in the last assembly session. Moreover, few months left for the assembly polls.

People chose their representative so that the legislator should represent their constituency in the assembly. However, the Congress legislators have only disturbed the last session just to grab the media attention. They could have chosen debate or discussion instead of sleeping in the assembly hall. Soondh should have acted coolly in the assembly but he impatiently hurled shoe at a rival politician.

Punjab Congress has been witnessing tough time as the infighting within the party cadre is still going on and the party is not united as only a few months have left for the assembly polls. The top leaders are fighting with each other over petty issues and leaders like Jagmeet Brar along with Bir Devinder Singh are not in the party yet. And the immature behaviour of legislators during last monsoon session has left a bad impression.

When elections become just a tool to gain power, the needs of a common man are often neglected & the latest example is set by Rahul Gandhi of Congress party.

Surjit Singh with Rahul Gandhi

Mr. Gandhi visited Punjab last month to meet distressed farmers where he had some conversation with a 60-yr-old farmer , S. Surjit Singh . Mr. Singh told him about the suffering caused by the crop loss due to adverse weather conditions including unseasonal rains. Today S. Surjit Singh allegedly committed suicide and the irony is that Mr. Gandhi showed all his “sympathy” to this man during his visit & even his “so called compassionate” picture made the rounds on media.

It was 28th of April when Rahul Gandhi met Mr. Singh (in a white turban), who explained his troubles to the vice president of Congress during his visit to Sirhind. Rahul Gandhi, after hearing problems of Mr. Singh assured him to help, but we all know what happened later.

Congress party has been neglecting the needs and demands of farmers in U.P as well. We wonder if Mr. Gandhi cannot solve the issue of just one farmer in spite of assuring him every possible help, how would this party be able to take care of the needs of a farmer-state i.e. Punjab. Did he come here just to get his pictures clicked and took Surjit Singh as nothing but a “voter”?